Chapter 109

Chapter 109 Kaelos Morning broke with the kind of clarity that only follows the undoing of chaos. The lake beside our camp mirrored the sky in perfect symmetry—no ripples, no distortions, just clean reflection. Birds called in familiar rhythms, and the wind carried only the scent of pine and damp earth. It was almost too normal, too peaceful, like waking from a dream only to find the world hadn’t ended after all. But we knew better. We rode in silence for the first hour, our horses moving steadily along the winding path that cut through what was once unstable land. Now, it was merely dirt and stone, firm and indifferent. The scars of yesterday’s battle were subtle: a bend in the trees that hadn’t been there before, a ridge where time had once collapsed into itself now grown smooth as though the world had exhaled. Callista rode beside me, her expression unreadable, but I could sense the tension beneath her calm—like a bowstring pulled taut, waiting for a reason to release. “How’s your s